Happy. healthy. paleo.

I hope you are enjoying the wonderful life that you’ve been given. I want to take a break from food theory for a moment to tell you that most of what you see about body image and health on the covers of magazines or website banners or tv ads is totally wrong. ‘Lose 10 lbs in 10 days!’ Let’s not. ‘Six weeks to a six-pack!’ Let’s be a people who rejects this ‘perfect image’ all that media is telling us we have to be to be happy and loved. At the bottom of it, they’re just trying to sell their product by making you feel insecure.

What do you really want?

Your first answer may be something like ‘I want to lose twenty-five pounds.’ or ‘I want to fit into a size whatever jean.’ Well, guess what? I hate to be the breaker of dreams but those things won’t make you happy. Those wants are only surface level projections of our deeper insecurities. What you really want is a positive image, that may come 25 lbs lighter but it could also come now. Maybe what you really want is confidence and you think that being a certain size or weight will give you the confidence to wear that swimsuit or try a new adventure sport. But trust me, when you see the scale hit that number, it’s not going to be some huge flick of the ON switch. Learn to accept your body and chase health and wellness not fleeting aesthetics. Would it be great to have six-pack abs? Sure, but not at the cost of my free time, relationships, and happiness. My wife and I want to maximize our years together. We don’t want either of our lives to be cut short by a preventable health disease due to our short-sightedness and lack of discipline. So, we eat healthy, we walk, we play tennis. We don’t spend hours in the gym every day, we don’t track all our meals and only eat chicken and broccoli (though they are delicious!). I do run but only because I enjoy it to a certain extent. What do I weigh? I don’t know. And I don’t really care. I eat and live healthy and feel great.

Okay, off my soapbox. But really, think for yourself and don’t buy into anything that says ‘Lose __ lbs in __ days!’

Leftovers, duh! Plus some almond butter and carrots, and clementines (those little guys are may delicioso!)

Dinner:

Paleo Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos – This is quite an involved recipe if you go balls to the wall. I opted for tortillas we picked up at our local farmers market, replaced the slaw with plain spinach and used regular mayo (I know, I know). Seriously, live a slow life. Balance what you can do with what you can let slide.

Mulligatawny Soup! – I’m pretty sure I’ve blogged about this recipe before. I love soup. Mulligatawny is a great Indian soup that makes use of curry powder and apples. The spices are not as strong as traditional Indian dishes, so this is a great opportunity to get others to branch out into more exotic foods.

Egg Roll In A Bowl – I’ve never tried this recipe before but looking at it, I don’t see how it could go wrong. I’ve made similar dishes and loved them. My plan is to grill some extra chicken when I make the soup and then use it in this dish.

Stuffed Sweet Potato – This is basically a catch all dish. Have broccoli? Bacon? Mushrooms? Throw it all in!